Continuing our series of guest blogs from graduates of the London College of Communication Design Writing Criticism MA course, Ellen Zoete and Anna Sinofzik write about visiting FoodMarketo at the London Design Festival 2010:

We're on our way to FoodMarketo's 'everyday life market'. It is five 'o clock, perfect coffee time, when we turn into Egerton Garden Mews, a little side street just off Brompton Road. FoodMarketo is a collaboration between the Barcelona and Milan-based 'everyday life interior magazine' Apartamento and DesignMarketo, an online shop for design products, operating from East London.

Ellen nudges me. 'Look, there was a coffee fortuneteller yesterday! A pity we missed that.' We open the door and walk down the steep stairs. 'It's the last sunny afternoon this year,' (a trace of disappointment, and I tend to exaggerate), 'and we are having coffee in a basement?!?' 'Mind your head,' Ellen replies.

Downstairs, we find ourselves in a fully equipped kitchen. It smells sweet, homey.

'Hey, hi! How would you two like your coffee? We make pressed and espresso.' I go for pressed, Ellen wants espresso. 'Milk and sugar's on the table. Make yourself at home.' I feel totally at home already. So does Ellen. She puts her bag down and starts up her computer. 'What's the password?' I point to a little note on the table: 'COFFEEANDFRIENDS.'

The friendly guy who brings the coffee to our table is Jérôme Rigaud. He founded DesignMarketo with Alex Bettler a year and a half ago. The idea is that of a platform: DesignMarketo sidesteps complicated selling processes by connecting creative makers directly to their potential clients. Instead of waiting for a big buyer or producer, designers can put their designs out on the market immediately.

So, it's a lot about networking. And about friends. 'COFFEE AND FRIENDS' is not only the wi-fi password, it's also the theme of the exhibition set up at FoodMarketo for the London Design Festival. Jerome explains: 'We sent out the brief to our friends and designers, this is what we got back from them.' Two walls are covered with sundry products from various design disciplines. Screen printed posters and coffee cards, Sibylle Stoeckli's elephant sweater, Tea Towels by the London based design duo All Cats are Grey (below), a collaborative chess set by the Anglo-French design collective Abäke and DesignMarketo's Jérôme Rigaud, Thomas Alonso's Licor Café Set. Everything's on sale here at the 'everyday life market'.

While Ellen and me are busy looking around, Jérôme has put a plate of fresh Baklava on the table. It's all so nice. But I do wonder: Isn't DesignMarketo focussing on product design and Apartamento on interiors? Why is everything so foody at the 'everyday life market'? Alex tells us that FoodMarketo is all about everyday life objects. Design, he emphasizes, is no decorative gimmickry, but a vital part of human life. So is food, obviously. The grasp of design as a part of everyday life also explains the concept of he exhibition. Objects are there to be experienced, rather than to be showcased. They are part of Foodmarketo's living room.

I eat another amazingly sweet piece of Baklava, crumbling on Max Lamb's workbank inspired table. Meanwhile, Alex has taken a seat next to us, telling us that these specialties were made by Turkish women during the coffee fortunetelling workshop. 'The one we missed...' Ellen says. 'You did miss a lot', Alex affirms, 'it was amazing.' But more events are coming up: Chef Maud Faussurier will be cooking for the public as part of the Brompton Design District party. Nelly Ben Hayoun will host the Home Chaos Workshop for which each participant is asked to bring four packets of coffee for explosive experiments. Graphic designers Chloé Stengel, Claudia Klat, Gregory Ambos and Régis Tosetti will bake Pies in the Sky.

It's almost seven when we leave, Jérôme and Alex are about to close down. Climbing up the stairs, Ellen says: 'We should definitely come back. Maybe for the dinner tomorrow. Or just some time in the afternoon, to have coffee and hang around.' 'For sure,' I say. 'Who the hell needs sun?'

Ellen Zoete and Anna Sinofzik  has recently completed an MA in Design Writing Criticism at London College of Communication.